Man of War Chronicles: The Demon
by SlugSLinger
Summary: A short war that took the lives of millions. A group of retired aces, seeking peace. An intrepid journalist seeking a man who changed the course of a war. When these three meet, the true colors of war will be revealed.
1. A brief summary of events

**This is a side project I'm working on. Will be updated whenever I'm free or when I actually feel like updating. But constructive criticism is appreciated!**

Once upon a time, there lived a man. A man, whose skills on the battlefield made him a legend. This man was known by many on Earth as a monster, a beast. A Demon who struck down all who stood in his way. It did not matter what goals were placed for him to achieve, for he would achieve them with little care for anything or anyone else.

But through the countless wars, skirmishes, battles and engagements that took place on Earth, this man grew bored. Tired from fighting opponents who were weaker than insects. This man craved for a tougher, more challenging fight. One that would certainly cost him his life, had he made even a single mistake.

Eventually, his wish was granted with the emergence of a new war. One that united men from all corners of the globe and forced them to fight together on equal terms. A war that both crippled and advanced humanity in ways, no-one could fathom. A war that sparked an anger within the collected souls of the human race that could not be quelled.

A war that forever changed history.

The TSAB-Earth war.

**Introductions: The TSAB-Earth War.**

(Start of the TSAB-UEAF War)

In April 2nd 2013, Earth's satellites, both military and civilian alike, were forced to broadcast an encrypted message that was sent from an unknown source from space. The message was clear; "War has been declared on your world. Prepare for imminent defeat." Initially, the world's leaders took this as nothing more than a joke. A prank made by a teenager of very technological skill. They placed this aside and resumed their daily matters.

But three days after, a fleet of aerial warships entered Earth's atmosphere and began bombarding major cities around the globe. The attack was so sudden, that the world's armies had no time to prepare and were forced to withdraw from their bases and regroup into fortified positions around the world. By the time they were finally able to regroup, half of the United States, mainland Japan, a quarter of Europe and Russia and most of the lesser countries had been conquered by these unknown enemies, who called themselves the 'TSAB'. A militaristic organization of humans that originated from other dimensions. They utilized technology that was far more advanced than that used by conventional forces. For one, they did not use firearms or any known armoured vehicles. They used, to the utter shock of the Earth military, magic. To further increase their surprise and horror, several Earth citizens were seen using magic against the defenders. The mysterious properties of magic gave them superhuman abilities, speed and endurance, which made the leaders of Earth very nervous and doubtful about sending their soldiers to fight them. Their doubts were soon proven correct, as an entire U.S Infantry division, armoured battalion and two aerial support squadrons were wiped out by only a platoon of TSAB mages. Stunned by the massive losses their forces suffered, the leaders of the remaining nations of Earth put aside their differences and joined forces to combat the dangerous threat.

In June 24th 2013, the first action the united leaders took was the full retreat of their military assets. The leaders ordered all surviving personnel to regroup and rendezvous at the Arctic regions, where heavy anti-infantry and anti-air defences were set up. Once all the surviving military personnel had gathered at the Arctic underground bases, the military forces began to silently communicate with resistance units from all over the world, learning key traits of the invaders that pointed out their weaknesses. These resistance units also captured several TSAB machinery and started to reverse engineer them. To their surprise, the advanced technology was made up of very simple material that could easily be synthesised, even under the thick ice sheets of the Arctic.

This intelligence gathering continued until September 12th 2013, when a fleet of 15 TSAB warships descended onto the Arctic and started attacking the resistance headquarters. But in the time that has past, the Earth forces were able to develop all kinds of anti-magic weaponry. From flight/manoeuvring spell jamming machinery to magic powered artillery cannons, the reverse engineering of the Earth born scientists was incredible. But the deadliest weapon developed by Earth was the Type-03 Magic Enhanced Battle Armour (MEBA), which utilizes magic and natural energy from the environment to generate protective shields around the user, as well as giving the user superhuman enhancements.

With these weapons and knowledge about their enemy's weaknesses, the resistance forces was able to annihilate the TSAB fleet and claim their first major victory against the invaders.

And to the surprise of the troops, these 'magicians' were unable to grasp the simple usage of cover and armour. Making them easy pickings for mass based weaponry of all kinds. A fact that was discovered during the battle for the Arctic.

On September 14th 2013, after a long discussion between the world leaders, the decision was made to take the fight to the invaders. This led to the creation of the United Earth Armed Forces (UEAF), which had the goal of liberating the Earth from TSAB hands. As the resistance forces were notified that the war was about to change, UEAF HQ receives a vital piece of intelligence that tells them about the Linker Core, an invisible space of magic energy that is contained within the bodies of all living entities. This led to the creation of the newer, deadlier Type-04 MEBA and the creation of magic fueled mass weaponry, a firearm that uses magic to propel bullets instead of gunpowder. With recoil-less firing abilities and a soundless firing mechanism, these weapons soon became the favorites of all battlefield veterans.

Armed with new and more deadly weaponry to use against the TSAB, the UEAF sets about to reclaim the Earth from the invaders.

In September 28th 2013, the first UEAF combat operation is held to recapture the neighbouring landmasses close to the Arctic. These small operations went by without incident or massive losses.

In November 5th 2013, the UEAF initiated operation 'Her Majesty's Revenge', which called for the liberation of mainland England. Though the initial implementations of the operation were filled with close calls and setbacks, England was taken back from the invaders in less than a month, with the thanks being directed to the efforts of the UEAF ground forces and mechanised divisions. The strategic location of the large island nation provided the UEAF with a proper command base and staging point in which to begin the complete liberation of Earth from the TSAB.

In November 19th, two weeks after England was retaken, the TSAB launches a massive counter attack that involved 100 000 personnel, 20 warships and the infamous Riot Force Six in order to drive out the UEAF. But thanks to the valiant efforts of Special Forces (Spec Ops) operatives, who were able to defeat Subaru Nakajima, her older sister Ginga Nakajima and their escorts, killing the latters, the defenders held their ground and were successful in driving back the TSAB with minimal losses.

The second major operation took place in Paris, France in December 19th 2013. Where UEAF forces fought one of the TSAB's finest combat division, The Phoenix corps. After vicious and unrelenting fighting from both sides, Paris fell to UEAF hands after the death of the Phoenix corps Division Commander. It also sparked the mass retreat of multiple TSAB forces out of the western European area.

Several days later, on Christmas Eve, UEAF HQ detected a large TSAB strike force approaching from the south-eastern border of B7R, a well known battle ground that was once the peaceful city of Berlin. The city itself was forgotten when evacuations were completed and had been left for the forest to reclaim. During the start of the invasion, the city sought after by both UEAF and TSAB for its strategic location in between major aerial supply routes. In the countless number of fierce battles that were waged to gain control over it, Berlin quickly became the birthplace for the elite and legendary. After dispatching a force of UEAF defenders to eliminate the threat, which they did, a squadron of TSAB mages entered the battlefield. A squad of Spec Ops operatives engaged the TSAB squadron, which was made up of Subaru Nakajima, Teana Lanister, Erio Mondial and Caro Ru Lushe. The battle culminated with the death of Subaru and Erio, along with Teana's and Caro's capture. For that accomplishment, the members of victorious squad were awarded the Silver Knight medal.

In January 14th 2014, the UEAF concentrated their efforts in liberating the Russian Federation from TSAB hands. The push was slow, but after two months of vicious fighting, the UEAF forces were able to reach Moscow, thus starting the Battle of Moscow, where the UEAF forces were able to bring down 250 TSAB warships, 180 of them intact, and faced down the Captain of the Arthra, Lindy Harlaown. Though her leadership skills were admirable and the Arthra managed to put up quite a fight, it was shot down and captured nonetheless. However, due to unexplained complications, Captain Lindy and half of the Arthra's crew were able to escape capture via unknown methods. Two months later, on April 10th 2014, UEAF forces participated in the Siege of Yakutsk, with Yakutsk being the location of the TSAB's infamous 'White Dragon' fortress. After a three week siege and repelling attacks from both inside and outside the fortress, a Spec Ops led force of UEAF infiltrators manages to break through the fortress' defences before engaging and defeating the SS+ class mage responsible for leading the people in the fortress, Commander Forcell Jorge, a well renowned TSAB hero and tactician. The squad also encountered one of the TSAB's top field doctors, Shamal Yagami, and were almost able to capture her, had the untimely interference of the Unbeatable Duo, Nanoha Takamachi and Fate T. Harlaown, not come as expected.

Two weeks after the Siege of Yakutsk, on April 24th 2014, the very same squad that defeated Commander Forcell was dispatched to B7R to intercept an incoming TSAB force that was heading to attack a UEAF refugee camp. Being the first to arrive at the battle zone, the squad, with the help of heavy artillery and air support, engaged and killed two-thirds of the TSAB force of almost 50 000 people, downed the 15 warships that were assigned to protect them and drove the surviving forces into retreat. But just as the battle seemed to be over, two Phoenix corps squadrons led by Nanoha Takamachi and Fate T. Harlaown entered the battlefield and wipes out the squad and their reinforcements in a surprise attack, save two who were saved by their quick reflexes. Left without assistance and the other survivor badly wounded, a lone operative engages the Unbeatable Duo and their escorts single-handedly in a brutal firefight.

Ultimately eradicating the two Phoenix corps squadrons, managing to put Nanoha unconscious and inflict a near-mortal wound on Fate after fighting tooth and nail with the two. However, just before the two aces were about to be executed, they are spared from death when Riot Force Six arrives to help their comrades. The group of aces were able to stall the lone operative off long enough to allow the previous two to be safely evacuated, before exiting the battlefield themselves as UEAF reinforcements arrive. It was from this fight where the operative gains the fearsome moniker 'Demon Lord of the Round Table' from the TSAB and is awarded the first and, to this day only, Blade of Ares award from UEAF High Command.

After the battle, the UEAF turns their attention over to the United States theatre and is tasked with liberating Washington D.C from TSAB hands. On June 23rd 2014, Operation 'Wings of Liberty', or 'Strike Freedom' as it was later renamed, was launched. It involved at least 5000 UEAF personnel and hundreds of mechanised weaponry. The battle lasted for several hours, reaching its peak as a five man team charged through the streets of Washington and stormed the White House. Inside, they found the infamous TSAB criminal turned reformed defector, Jail Scagletti, along with a prototype TSAB made intelligent device that incorporated Earth science and TSAB magic, code-named 'Legion'.

After Washington was secured on July 1st 2014, an award ceremony was held in order to pay homage to the fallen heroes of the war. It was supposed to be an event which would greatly increase the moral of the fighting forces, as well as to remind the people of Earth that a prolonged war was never a good thing.

But as the ceremony went underway, UEAF Command intercepted a TSAB coded message that called for the immediate start of a secret operation that involved firing multiple Distortion Canons at the award ceremony and obliterating the city and all its inhabitants, which included civilians.

A team of Spec Ops operators and the Demon Lord were sent in to intercept the attacking fleet and its escorts. After downing seven of the ten warships and eliminating the five Phoenix corps escorts, the team was able to infiltrate one of the ships and take control of it; even using its own Distortion Canon to down the other two warships when their supply of anti-ship shoulder fired missiles went dry. But a sudden attack sent it crashing into the ocean below. After barely being able to escape the sinking warship, the team was able to swim ashore and faced a TSAB ace, Vita, and her three squadrons of Phoenix corps escorts. With the untimely help of the team, the Demon Lord was able to eliminate the three escort squadrons and severely wound Vita. But as he was about to finish her, a surprise attack by another TSAB ace, Signum Yagami, and her two Phoenix corps escorts caught the team off-guard. After being cornered by two experienced TSAB aces, the team and the Demon Lord were facing the threat of death. However, the arrival of a newly absorbed and promoted Captain Jail Scagletti and two teams of Spec Ops operators, one Russian Spetznaz and one American Delta, were able to drive the TSAB forces away. But the group of soldiers did not have time to celebrate, however, as an earth shattering explosion ripped through the earth they stood on, forcing the group of soldiers to race to the source. When they arrive, they find a large crater replacing Rio de Janeiro and a fleet of TSAB warships circling it. After downing all the warships and their escorts in a fit of rage, the group is later informed that a new class of TSAB warship had destroyed the city from orbit. The action enrages the UEAF ground forces, who consider the use of WMD's during a war as the ultimate act of cowardice.

On July 10th 2014, the Demon and a squad of Spec Ops operators are dispatched to the Great Plains to participate in one of the fiercest clashes in the war, the Battle of the Great Plains. A battle that took the lives of thousands of TSAB and UEAF combatants. There, the Demon further solidifies his title by singlehandedly downing 7 TSAB warships and eliminating three squadrons of Phoenix corps mages. The battle reached its climax when the TSAB's flagship, the 'Iron Juggernaut' descends from orbit and engages the UEAF aerial fleet. After losing ten ships to the giant metal monstrosity, the UEAF commander in charge, General Fletcher E. Harber, orders the fleet and all ground personnel to retreat. But the Demon defies the order and storms the TSAB flagship alone. The crew of the enormous vessel are caught off guard and are slaughtered mercilessly by the mass weaponry he carried. Three other Spec Ops squads join him in destroying the flagship from within and further increase the bloodbath that took place onboard. The further the operatives enter, the fiercer the resistance becomes. At one point in the battle, the Demon is forced to confront the White Devil alone on the main deck of the ship. Their battle leaves the deck in shambles and Nanoha Takamachi wounded and bleeding. She somehow wscapes capture through unknown means. Eventually, the Demon manages to breach the bridge and kills the captain, rendering the ship without a helmsman and control. With an unbelievably loud explosion, the flagship crashes in a heap of smoke, fire and debris. Seeing the defeat of their flagship, the TSAB fleet retreats into orbit.

On July 24th 2014, the TSAB attempts to attack the UEAF centre of operations in England through B7R. Catching wind of this development, the UEAF scramble a large force of defenders to stop the invaders. The result; the largest ground and aerial engagement in Earth's history, the Battle for B7R.

The battle lasted for three days, costing the lives of tens of thousands of combatants. The Demon is deployed frequently in this battle, more often than not to provide a much needed moral boost to the ground troops. During the third day of the fight, the TSAB's orbital superweapon, dubbed the 'Executioner' by the UEAF ground forces, fires upon the UEAF held side of the battlefield. The attack vaporises hundreds of personnel within seconds, opening a route the TSAB could not overlook. The UEAF High Command traces the source of the beam and fires five 45-megaton nuclear warheads at it, scoring four direct hits and forcing the superweapon to withdraw from the fight.

The advancing TSAB forces were stopped when the Demon arrives with the new Type-05 MEBA and a squad of 'Elites', highly experienced MEBA operators. The six man team immediately halts the advancing TSAB forces with overwhelming firepower and enhanced superhuman combat abilities. Once the TSAB's vanguard unit was annihilated, Riot Force Six and five Phoenix corps escorts arrive. The battle between the two sides lasted only for several minutes, with the five man Elite team focusing on the escorts while the Demon dealt with Riot Force Six. The aces tried valiantly to defeat the Demon, but one by one, they fell until only three were left standing. The three aces were able to hold off the Demon and his attacks long enough for a TSAB medical team to evacuate their wounded before escaping capture through unknown means.

Following the success of the Type-05 MEBA operatives in the B7R mass engagement, the Type-05 becomes standard issue among UEAF forces. With the advance ability enhancing capabilities of the Battle-suit, the tide of battle quickly turns to the UEAF's favor. As celebrations were being prepared, the UEAF High Command catches wind of an imminent attack by the TSAB's damaged, but still functioning, 'Executioner' and orders the start of a daring covert operation.

On August 7th 2014, Jericho taskforce, a taskforce of consisting of the best of the UEAF's fighters and Elites, and the Demon were sent on a secret assignment, to either recapture or, failing in that task, eliminate the powerful TSAB superweapon, now code-named 'Excalibur'. The taskforce used a captured and reengineered TSAB warship, re-named the Earth Inter-dimensional Vessel(EIV) Arthur, to travel into space and board the ship as it prepares to fire onto UEAF Headquarters. After fighting their way through the ship using both Magic and Earth weaponry, the taskforce manages to breach the bridge of the ship and stops the firing sequence just as the weapon was about to fire on the Antarctic HQ. But as they did, the TSAB Inter-Dimensional Navy arrives and starts firing on the planet. Jericho proceeds to send coordinates of the enormous fleet to UEAF High Command, who in turn, fires 25 50 megaton nuclear warheads towards the fleet. The warheads detonate, destroying 85% of the fleet and severely damaging the reminder. This, alongside the fact that their own superweapon has been captured and is firing upon them, forces the fleet commander to retreat back to TSAB territory.

With the humiliating defeat of their navy and with no other way to evacuate their remaining forces on Earth without taking immense casualties, the TSAB pulls back their forces from orbit and tries to negotiate a cease fire.

(TSAB-UEAF War ends)

From there, the rest is history. But even then, it felt incomplete. As if some part of the story was erased and hid away from the eyes of the public. Because of this, I spent five years looking, searching for an answer to why. Through effort and time, I was able to convince my boss, the editor-in-chief of Mid-Childa News, to allow me to interview the veterans of the great war. At first I was excited to be meeting such legendary heroes. To see them, to shake their hands with mine and hear their stories made me feel... Like a kid in a candy store, I guess.

But, as it turned out, I got a whole different story than I first anticipated.

**If you, the reader, find anything out of place, then don't hesitate to either PM or review to tell me of my mistakes.**

**Until next time,**

**See you on the other side.**


	2. Declaration I

**What's up everybody! SlugSLinger here with the next chapter! Take your time reading and don't hesitate to leave a review!**

* * *

**Man of War Chronicles: The Demon **

**Interlude 01: The Message****  
****Interviewee: Capt. Larry 'Pixy' Foulke(Ret)**

**[As a distinguished, but retired, General in the UEAF Special Forces, Larry Foulke was a man beyond his years. He enlisted in the Earth Armed Forces at the age of 20 and made the rank of sergeant at 23. At the young age of 25, he served as the sniper and demolitions expert for the legendary 13th Special Assault Unit, Galm Team. A year after the war, he had earned the rank of Captain and was said to have been in line for a promotion to General. We sat facing each other on the porch of his cottage, built on the snow covered realm of Monrach, formerly known as Administered Realm No. 211, enjoying the delicious hot coco he personally made. The former soldier stood at a height of six feet, had a full head of brown hair, a strong jawline, two diagonal scars running parallel down his left cheek, and green eyes that seem to glow a warm light. His manner of speech is polite and gentle, much like the man himself.]**

Him? Oh yeah, I knew him. We fought together during the war a few years back. I was his second in command, so I knew a lot about him. I think. **[He scratches the back of his head sheepishly]** It's gonna take a while, so you might want to make yourself comfortable.

Did you know, that there were three kinds of aces? There are those who seek power, those who live for honour and there are those who can turn the tide of war. And though he didn't use spells or incantations, he was an ace in his own right.

Now, where to start? Uh… Okay.

Seven years ago, about two years before the war came rolling in, I was part of the United States of America's Delta Force, the best Special Operations detachment of the U.S Army. America's version of a Striker unit. I was a professional at what I did. A good soldier working for not-so-good people. Sure, there were times when I did question my superiors' motives, but I was a grunt. A foot soldier. I was meant to follow orders, no matter what they were. If my squad and I were ordered to jump up and down, we do it and ask 'how high?'. If we were ordered to wipe out a village off the face of the Earth and every living thing in it, we'd do it without a second thought. We were the pawns, you see. Disposable and replaceable, like those cheap, plastic cups you'd see at birthday parties. Our skills were important,yes,but those same skills could easily be taught to someone else. That meant we could be replaced in the event of our sudden death. I went through a lot of covert operations back then and soon made a name for myself. The 'Guardian Angle' was what mercenaries called of those same skills, I received tons of offers to defect and use my skills for different purposes. I was getting famous by the day. You could say, my career's branches were laid out in front of me like a red carpet.

**[His face grew cold] **Back then, the Earth and the nations on it weren't together. We weren't fighting for survival. Quite the opposite really, we were fighting for ourselves like hungry cuttlefish going after a dead crab. We were divided by many things. Ethnics, ideals, honour, economy, hell, even skin colour. Because of that, war was waged on a daily basis. Everyday, there just had to be another skirmish, another genocide, another war. It was Earth's way of sorting out the strong from the weak. To 'remove lice from a pillow', so to speak. Everyday, more and more people died, only to be replaced by others. That's where we came in. We fought for peace. For a future without bloodshed. Fighting to stop fighting. Killing to stop killing. Must sound weird to you Mid-Childans, right? Well, that was what the people, or at least the soldiers, of Earth believed in. The ability to stop bloodshed with even more bloodshed. It's a cycle that dates back all the way to when our first ancestors took their first, bipedal steps off the safety of the treetops. You could say we Earthlings lived on war. It was like a drug to us. An addiction we couldn't hope to get over. That drug turned out to be our very salvation.

The day were received the transmission was the day my squad and I were out jogging. We were doing 20 laps around the field when the guys from Javelin Company called us over to the canteen. It was the only place where a TV was plugged in, so we that we could eat our meals and watch TV without fuss. But there wasn't a show on it. No, the satellite dish was under maintenance that time. The TV was all black and white with some static clouding the outer edges. But in the middle was a simple message. Just two sentences in plain English.

'War has been declared on your world. Prepare for imminent defeat.'

It stayed like that for five minutes before the TV just shut itself off.

**Did it affect the moral of on-site personnel?**

How could it not? I mean, what would you do if the TV you were watching suddenly stopped broadcasting the show you were viewing and displayed a rather spooky declaration of war? What would you do if the possibility of war actually breaking out was one you couldn't afford to be mistaken? What would _you_ do?

For one, I knew I had to get confirmation on the situation. I had to call the higher ups to find out what was happening. When I did get into contact with HQ, approximately two hours after the transmission, they told me to put my guys on stand-by and prepare for any joint operations with any and all overseas military units. I expected them to say it, but then I noticed something else.

Their voices were shaky.

Now, the people I dealt with during my time in the armed forces usually speak in calm, commanding and strict tones of voice. So when you hear the voices of your superior officers start to shake, then you know that something is scaring them. So I called a few of my pals from overseas, ones from SAS, Spetsnaz, GIGN and KSK. I asked them about a weird message broadcasted on TV. They told me the exact same thing that was broadcasted.

'War has been declared on your world. Prepare for imminent defeat.'

**[He chuckles mirthlessly]** You can imagine the speculation and tall tales that followed after I broke the news to my guys. Alien invasion was the most spoken about. With all the Sci-fi movies and geeky science conventions, there had to be at least five theories about aliens that were being talked about. Look at Hawking's theory about contact from . Just the thought of a hostile alien race invading Earth was enough to send everyone running for the hills. I had my fair share of thoughts when the message was displayed, but I kept them hidden. The last thing my guys needed was for their leader to start blabbering bullshit. For two days, the whole 'Alien Invasion' thing was the most talked about thing on-site. For two days, theories on what their spaceships would look like, what their weapons would fire or even what the _aliens_ looked like were spoken and shown, if the guy showing it had decent drawing skills. For two days, we prepped ourselves for war.

By day three, I was beginning to think that it was a false alarm. Another high tech wiz kid playing a prank on the world. A harmless incident that sharpened our senses and curbed our enthusiasm little a bit.

But then, you guys came.

**[The Day of Declaration, as the veterans of the war called it, caused chaos and wide spread panic among the population of Earth. According to military theorists, it was a form of psychological warfare. To this day, it is unknown how the TSAB was able to broadcast the message into worldwide communication systems.]**

**X*X*X*X*X*X*X**

**Interlude 02: Sudden Strike  
Interviewee: Sgt Sergei 'the Golem' Alenkov(Ret)**

**[Sergei Alenkov served as a machine-gunner for the UEAF for Galm Team during the TSAB-UEAF war. The combination of his intimidating height of six feet, seven inches, the massive muscles he sports on his arms and the scars he bears from years of fighting are enough to make even cold blooded criminals back away. Despite this, the Russian is actually gentle at heart and personally dislikes the idea of war. We currently occupied a table at the small 'Pachenkov' café on Mid-Childa, enjoying the light-hearted scenery of a park just outside the establishment. He smiles faintly as children laugh in the distance.]**

[I loved the Russian weather. It snowed almost frequently and the bone chilling cold made me feel so comfortable. Much like how the eyes of our dead look like when you lift them up to be buried.]

After the message was broadcasted, Aquila company, the company I was stationed in, was deployed in the city of Voronezh along with several others. We were ordered to set up a defensive perimeter around the city's outskirts and concealed sniper nests on top of roofs. A majority of our tanks were sent into the city and hidden using the most basic camouflage techniques while our helicopters were ordered to circle the skies above for anything peculiar. The troops were ordered to disperse all over the city and take up defensive positions on certain points near the street or at an intersection.

But me? I, along with my company, were stationed at the city's main entrance. The large, six lane highway the leads in and out of it. We had three tanks, five APC's and four Anti Aircraft Gun platforms with us to provide support and transportation. Two tanks were parked front to front, with their turrets facing outwards, while the third was stationed somewhere in the city. We were dug in around the road, huddled behind bags of dirt, in freshly dug foxholes, in dry ditches or lying prone under trees. I, on the other hand, took up a position on top of an overpass that had a clear view of the road for about, 1000 meters or so. The others said that I had it easy. A clear line of fire, lots of ammunition and a safe distance away from the fight was as good a position as anyone could get. We sat there for three days, drinking coffee or eating soup, directing traffic in and out of the city, maintaining patrols on an hourly basis and generally acting as how any other soldier would when not under fire. But I didn't. I stayed at my post for hours, just watching snow fall and break apart on the concrete foot walk. I remember almost losing my toes to frostbite once, when I stayed out too long on a guard shift. I was cleaning my Pecheneg when I heard one of my comrades' yell. I glanced at the man and saw him pointing up to the sky.

I looked up and saw the usual, grey Russian clouds drifting lazily past. He could've been hallucinating from eating a stale mushroom the chef accidentally cooked. Believe me, it wouldn't have been the first time I've seen someone experiencing hallucinations from ingesting rotten mushrooms. I squinted my eyes to get a better view of what he saw. And then I saw it too. The sky was distorting.

**Could you elaborate?**

Of course. Have you ever seen a bonfire lit in broad daylight? **[I nod]** Have you seen it from a distance? If you have, and have been watching closely, you could see the heat from the fire distort the air around the pit. It was that sort of distortion that I saw on the skies above Voronezh. I looked closer and saw that there wasn't just one or two of these distorted patches. There many more surrounding the city. _Dozens_ more. I scanned the faces of my squad mates and then my captain's. They were confused, mystified.

And they were scared. Scared of what was to come.

My captain ordered everyone back to their posts. Shouting "Вернитесь в своисообщения! Двигайтесь! Двигайтесь!" as sirens start to blare all around the city. I laid prone and kept my sights glued to a distorted part of the sky directly above us. My breathing hitched when I saw the distortion start to split apart. It opened like an eye, splitting into two hemispheres and revealing a dark, empty space. And from it, emerged a starship. It was nothing like the ones Hollywood movies would show. It was huge, at least 450 meters stern to bow, and 250 meters port to starboard. It was just… Surreal. I could not believe what I was seeing. An actual spaceship? Aliens? Could it have been possible that we weren't alone after all?

And while we were all busy gaping at the gigantic structure, we had failed to notice the other emerging ships. Dozens of them, appearing out of nowhere. Many were painted an identical looking colour scheme, dark blue, grey and black. But there were a few that had been painted differently. Some had black serpents painted on their sides. Others a growling Tiger or Jaguar. Obviously, we didn't have time to look at all of them, so we opened fire with our small arms and RPG's. They hit, but they barely left a mark. I saw an RPG fly up and hit the belly of one of the ships. When the smoke cleared, it revealed only chipped paint. Chipped paint. Nothing else.

Then, the tanks, BTR's, the AAG's and BMP's opened up and filled the sky with tracers and shells. They struck and exploded. But, like the RPG, only _chipped_ the paint off. Not tear a gaping hole, not dent it, not rip the metal to shreds, but _chipped the paint_. You could imagine how scared everyone was. How _terrified_ they were at how powerful our opponents were. You must understand, anything that could shrug off a direct hit from an RPG is a _very_ tough thing. I've seen an RPG round go through a BTR and peel its armour off like it was a banana. I've seen a tank shell hit the side of a building and punch a hole big enough for a man to vault through. I've seen the chain gun of a BTR turn a perfectly crafted UAZ into scrap metal in under a minute. I've seen a MIG-22, a very fast son of a bitch, explode in mid-air after getting torn apart by the AAG's tracers. But to see all those projectiles hit a target and not have any effect…

Eventually, we exhausted the ammunition we had in our guns and were frantically starting to reload when the ships bellies opened wide, like bomber bay doors. And from those doors, hell rained.

**Excuse me?**

Artillery. They started shelling our positions. I don't know how they did it, since I couldn't see any sort of canon or turret firing from those openings. But it didn't matter how it was fired. It mattered how hard it hit _after_ it was fired. Some time after they started firing, one of the shells impacted our position.** [Shivers]** I swear, I have never felt something that powerful before. The shockwave from the detonation felt like something massive just flicked me with its finger or I was just blown away like an insignificant speck. It was strong enough to send me flying from a prone position on the overpass. I tumbled backwards and off the structure, landing back first onto the snow. The shells kept coming, so I had to take cover. Just as I stood, another shell landed on a small building to my left. Again, I was sent sprawling on the snow. In a blink of an eye, the entire building was incinerated. Gone, along with its occupants.

**There were people inside it?**

Of course there were people inside. We were only instructed to form a defensive perimeter around the city, not evacuate the population. This order was sent out to every major military base in the country. Even if we could have evacuated them all, where were we supposed to take them? Siberia? Britain? America? The message was broadcasted everywhere, all around the globe. We couldn't just evacuate several million scared men, women and children to some isolated hole and pray the invaders didn't find them. And even if we could, just planning it could have taken weeks, maybe even months! We didn't have the time, resources or manpower for that kind of large scale operation. So, we were left with only one option. Defend. And a stupid option _that_ turned out to be.

By then, the remnants of Aquila company, which included myself, started running for the hills. We ran like mad men, screaming, and maybe even crying, as we weaved through the explosions. Eventually, we reached a bridge a few blocks from our original position. We took cover there, and waited out the barrage. I did a head count to see how many of us survived. From the 178 of us that were deployed, only 45 remained. We didn't care to go check on the tanks and APC's. As far as we knew, they were gone. Turned into a pile of burning wreckage in a crater. As the medics tend to the wounded, the ships closed their belly doors and opened their sides. That was what really sent my mind down the drain. Because from those sides, came helicopters.

Everyone who looked at those things sported the same, 'Are you fucking kidding me?' look on their faces. These invaders, who had a fleet of giant starships capable of traveling through the vast distances of space, used _helicopters_ to drop their troops? If it wasn't for the fact that we were under attack, I would've been cursing and swearing at the top of my lungs. But if there was anything about this predicament that we did appreciate, was that those helicopters resembled Earth based construction. Which meant, they were destructible by Earth based weaponry.

Because I was the next in line to lead the company, I took the able bodied soldiers out from under the bridge and ordered them into groups of five. Each one had a specific task. Gathering survivors, radioing HQ about the current situation, setting up evacuation stations for the civvies and wounded, you know, standard procedure.

But my group? We had a far more important job. We, along with a few others, were going to fight these invaders.

We snuck into an apartment building and took up a defensive position near a window. My group consisted of two riflemen, Gorvich and Hani, a demolitions expert, Ivan, a medic, Konrad, and myself. We stayed low as three of those helicopters slowly descended into the courtyard our position overlooked. When they were five floors down, I signalled Ivan to fire his RPG. The warhead struck the helicopter's cabin and sent it falling into the ground in flames. Gorvich, Hani and I then stood and emptied our magazines into the cockpit of another helo. The pilot was turned into swiss cheese by the time we had finished. The craft he was piloting was sent spiralling to the ground. The third managed to land and drop its payload, about a dozen soldiers, before hastily taking off and flying away. We had the advantage, high ground, lots of firepower and five highly experienced members of the Russian Infantry forces. We opened up and fired at them. Pouring suppressive fire from our vantage point and picking off whatever poor soul that didn't find cover in time.

The soldiers were pretty hard to kill. They took quite a beating before going down. Their weaponry also packed a punch. They utilized strange weapons that looked more like staffs than actual firearms. If only we'd known that those staffs were their actually weaponry. Who knows how many more of my men could've lived. Gorvich was the first one to go, took one of their bolts to the chest. It blew him to pieces and covered the wall behind him in gore. Konrad took his place, picking up his Ak-47 and shooting at them. My Pecheneg was starting to overheat after my third kill, so I had to switch to my secondary, the Makarov. Sure, the shots were pretty much useless against their armour, but it at least gave me _some_ sort of offensive capability. After a while of shooting, more of those guys came. They streamed from an alleyway and started firing. After fighting with the original twelve, and managing to kill eight of them, our cover had gone ropy and our ammunition supply was drying up. We pulled back, outside the building and started running to an evac station. By some miracle, HQ received our radio transmission and had sent a few helicopters to evacuate the civilians and our wounded. It was then when we encountered one them on foot, alone.

Hani ran at him, screaming "Эй, ублюдок!" and slammed the butt of his rifle at his face. The force of it sent the man staggering, but not falling down. Hani was about to strike him again, when a blue light surrounded him and he became immobile. He just stood there, like a statue, as his target recovered, took aim and fired. Like Gorvich, his insides were sent splattering all over, and he fell down. Dead. I took aim at him a fired a long burst. The bullets struck and he was pushed back. But he didn't go down. He stood, arms out and blocking the bullets as they struck him again and again. Eventually, he started bleeding and then fell. He killed Hani with one shot, while it took almost a hundred rounds from my Pecheneg to bring him down. If it took that many bullets just to bring down one man, how many would it take to bring down a squad? Or a platoon? What would it take to bring down one of those ships? A tactical nuclear strike? A well placed Tomahawk missile?

That left Konrad, Ivan and myself. We radioed our findings to everyone available, telling them that a burst to the head was enough and that every round fired _must_ count. We ran and reached an evacuation site, a large park that served as a landing area for helicopters or VTOLs. Rotary winged aircraft of all shapes and sizes were bringing people out and supplies in. I saw a squadron of MIGs circling above us. Tanks and BTR's were stationed at every possible entry site with their guns pointing outward. Ignoring the sheer military presence, the three of us restocked, reloaded and set up a position next to a ditch with a sharp turn a few yards a head of us. The current commanding officer was shouting out orders at the top of his lungs and pointing his AK at seemingly random locations from the farthest to the station, 1500 meters away, to just 300 yards away. We had sandbags piled into makeshift barricades for .50 calibre machinegun placements, gunships hovering just above our heads and boxes of ammunition stacked up as high as they could before toppling down. I didn't realise at first, but eventually I saw his plan. It was relatively simple, but very effective. First, there was a line of light infantry and turret mounted UAZs on the outer perimeter. They would herd the civilians into the evacuation station and engage any and all threat that comes near them. If they fell and the enemy moved in, then a second line of infantry, supported by BTRs and gunships would fire. And if they manage to get through _that_, then there was us. The third line of infantry, with tanks, BTRs, UAZs, gunships and close air support. But I didn't hope for the help from the air though. As things were at the time, the best we could have hoped for was to hold them off for a few minutes. Five minutes to evacuate the civilians was better than no time at all.

15 minutes later, we heard gunshots from the first line. It lasted for about five minutes. Then we heard more gunfire. The second radioed in and told us that they were engaging enemy armour. That pretty much sent our knees shaking and teeth chattering. Think about it. If it took a hundred rounds to kill _one_ foot soldier, then what would it take to bring down their vehicles? Their APCs, their ships, their _tanks_? I seriously doubted that a single RPG round would do the trick.

After another five minutes, the gunshots ceased and we lost radio contact with the second line. We held our breath and waited. The terrified screams of the civilians behind us weren't helpful in boosting our morale, but that is to be expected.

Out of nowhere, a large armoured vehicle, almost like our BMPs but painted with a different shade of black and a turret that looked almost like the ones from an expensive sci-fi movie, where every major action scene is computer animated. It swung round and fired, turning a tree, placed conveniently behind my position, into a flaming wooden tube. Then we opened fire. The vehicle that destroyed the tree was blown to pieces by the combined fire of two T-90s. Then their infantry ran in, screaming something in Mid-Childan. We responded by firing our guns. The .50 calibres did their job well and turned the charging forces into swiss cheese. Our guns killed a lot of them well before they got halfway to our position. Apparently, their bravery was also their weakness. We kept firing, gunning them down and blowing apart any armoured vehicle that tried to assist their advance. But eventually, they wised up and started to deploy shields. I think it was a protection spell that was meant to stop the most basic of attacks. Our machine guns slowed them down, but they kept advancing, albeit slower than before. This wall of advancing infantry wasn't all that terrifying, until they got within firing range of their weapons. **[He chuckles] **Oh, _that's_ when we got into trouble.

They opened fire at us. Most of the unshielded soldiers were reduced to smouldering corpses when the bolts struck. Some were cut in half at the explosive force. I saw a soldier, a bit off to my right, get hit on the _face_ and everything above his stomach was blown to pieces. I think some of that grime landed on my face, but I didn't notice at the time. I pulled the pin of a grenade and threw it under the line. It rolled under their feet and detonated. Pieces of people were sent flying. Dirt and snow flew everywhere. But when the snow cleared, it revealed the armoured vehicle with its scary turret buzzing. I saw it swivel sideways and fire at one of our tanks. One hit, and the T-90 was turned into a flaming wreck. But before it claimed the other one, the gunship that was flying above us, a Hind, fired its payload of missiles and blasted that metal bastard into pieces. We kept firing and gunned down most of them before they got too close. But for every one we killed, at least five more took his place. It was insane! We were outnumbered, out gunned and outmatched. And yet we held and continued to fight the onslaught. We held our ground and fired everything we had. I don't know how long we fought their forces. And by _we_ I meant Ivan, Konrad and myself. Everything that moved met our hot pieces of lead. Eventually, my Pecheneg overheated and I grabbed a hold of a .50 calibre turret. I took aim and fired. Short, controlled bursts of hot lead flew and struck their targets. But then, more of them came. They flooded through the alleyway, supported by those armoured vehicles.

Imagine, a wall of soldiers clad in black and blue amour or clothing, with fearsome, tank killing monsters backing them. Marching forward in a slow, taunting pace in spite of all the gunfire and explosions going off around them. Some of the men, the ones who survived the first encounter, took the initiative and ran, despite their superiors shouting orders to stand their ground. I think only my group and a handful of others stood our ground and fought. I don't know.

**You don't know?**

I don't remember much from the earlier days of the war. It was all just a blur to me.

Anyway, there we were, shooting, cursing and blasting at the enemy ranks. By then, the other lines had already been breached and the bastards were already swamping into the area. The MIGs tried their best to help, dropping their payload of bombs and gunning down the ones that survived them. I was bashing one of the bastards with the butt of my Pecheneg when I heard charges being detonated. Without looking, I grabbed Konrad and Ivan and rolled into the ditch that was right next to us. Good thing I did, too.

You see, the officer who had planned this defence placed an ingenious, last ditch fail-safe. If-no _when,_ the enemy broke through the last line, he'd detonate the charges a team of demolition experts placed in several places. One of those very charges was placed right in front of my group's position, on a primary support pillar that held a condemned building upright. I didn't look, but I knew what happened. The building, with it's support pillars blown to oblivion, toppled over and fell.

Right on top of the enemy.

It was ingenious. It was brilliant. It was also incredibly _stupid._

Did he factor in the troops, _our_ troops, that were still in the open? Did he think about the resulting shockwave and air displacement that occurs when a building falls over?

Of course not! How could he? In that tense moment, his brain was running at a million miles a second. He didn't have time to stop and say 'Hey, there's a risk of causing the helicopters carrying the evacuees to crash from the debris and other stuff that would be sent flying once the building falls over'. And I for one don't blame him.

So, once the building fell and the smoke cleared, I glanced from my safe hiding place and stood.

It was quiet. As still as the morning air. Peaceful, in way. So I radioed for extraction, gathered whatever remained of Aquila company, got into a chopper and took off to a safer location, all's well that ends well. But then, I looked out the window.

The entire city was on fire. Fighting was still taking place on the streets. People, soldiers and civilians alike, were running away from attacking forces. I saw a few of those blue and black bastards corner a small family before blasting them to pieces.

It made me sick. I couldn't watch this mayhem. Never in my years as a soldier had I seen such brutality inflicted upon innocent people. It was then when I made an oath. These invader, these _monsters_, will pay for everything they've done.

But before we could get our vengeance, how were we supposed to fight them? Conventional arms do work, but only when used in excess. Their soldiers can be killed, but only by sacrificing hundreds of our own. There had to be a way to fight them. To level the playing field.

I had plenty of questions to ask of course, but who was going to answer them? Who would be the first to find out the answer to my questions?

At the time, I assumed that whoever it was, it had to be either some sort of super soldier, an egghead from R&D, or a complete idiot.

Who knew it would take all three to find out.

**[The Battle of Voronezh was one of many fought during the early days of the war. Estimates vary, but the total death toll suffered by the Russian Armed Forces during this time were high. The official estimate launched by the UEAF counted at least 1.5 million military casualties and almost 3.5 million civilian. Several people blame the poor execution of the military's defense plans or the lack of up-to-date equipment.]**

* * *

**Tada! That's the second chapter done and ready to read! Remember to leave some constructive criticism for me to use!**

**Until then,**

**See you on the other side.**


End file.
